The other day I
stopped by to see Ann, an acquaintance of mine, for it had been a year since I
had seen her. Men were outside painting her house and things were quite busy as
well as hectic—outside that is. After
ringing her doorbell, I was first greeted by two dogs and then she appeared
with saying “Come inside!” As I went inside, I couldn’t help but notice that
the larger of the two dogs was not the same one I’d seen last year. Really I
didn’t want to blurt out “What happened to your other dog?” but it just
happened that I did.
With a sad look on
her face, Ann told me “My larger dog passed away eight months ago.” “I’m so sorry; I know how that hurts” was my
response. “It was terrible but so much worse for my little dog Molly: She
wouldn’t eat and was grieving over losing her best buddy. It went on for
several months.” That part I understood full well for there was more than one
time I had two dogs at the same time and one had died—and grief I saw in my
other dog.
“Where did you get
this dog?” I asked. “Lucy?” she asked me. “I love that name for a dog; fits
her” was my reply. “Well this is how it happened: I decided to take Molly with
me to the shelter and see if she would choose a dog that she liked: We went
from cage to cage and then Molly stopped and sat down. Wouldn’t move. She was
nose to nose [through the cage] with the larger dog. I know it sounds strange,
but not only did Molly know that it was the right dog for us but so did I and
that was the day we brought “Lucy” home with us.
As my dog came from
the very same shelter, I knew that the dog had not been named “Lucy” by the
workers but then maybe so. “Was that her name at the shelter?” I asked. “No”
she said smilingly “and I changed her name when we got home.” “Do you remember when I got Rufus at the shelter that he had
been named Louie?” Ann just smiled and then said “I remember that well.”
I looked at Lucy and
she was so pretty: Large, some brown on her face but the rest of her was pure
white. “Somehow she looks like a Jack Russell in her face but then…” and I
stopped. “She’s a mix of who knows what” said Ann. By this time Lucy was right
by my hand wanting to smell dog on me [yes my dog smell was on me,] and then I
petted her on the head. Was Molly nearby? Molly was standing right beside her
best buddy. I should add that Molly is small and a mixture of poodle and who
knows what else?
I thought to myself
how lucky Lucy was to find such a wonderful home with a wonderful owner and a
pal named Molly, and all amid French furniture. “Now it just doesn’t get any better than that, I thought to myself. Not
one iota.”
All of a sudden Ann
asked me if I’d go outside with her to check to see it the painters missed any
places: I gladly told her I would. Before I knew it Ann was out the back door
with the two dogs and I couldn’t find them. “Ann!” I hollered. I wasn’t greeted
by Ann, but by Lucy—it was as if she was the official in charge for she stopped
and then walked slowly in front of me, so that I would find not only Ann but Molly
as well.
“She’s one amazing
dog” I said and Ann replied “Yes she is just that.” Both of us checked to see
if the painters had missed any places but the sun was glaring: It was hard for
me to tell if there were any or not as I’d left my sunglasses inside her house.
Ann did find several places that were missed but that was all; on my part, I
was amazed at what a wonderful job the painters were doing. “I wish I had you
both to have painted my house when it was remodeled” I told them. They just
smiled. “I’m serious; you should see how it looks” and I ended it with those
words as well as a smirk on my face.
“Let’s go inside”
said Ann. I was so glad to be able to sit down after we entered her house.
“Would you like something cold to drink?” “I’d love it” I said. Holding a big
glass of cold iced tea was Nirvana; drinking it was all the better. “You know” I said “it just doesn’t get any
better than this—being with a friend and her two dogs amid all this beautiful
furniture is wonderful. “ “Why thank you” Ann replied “and I feel the very same
way.”
When it was time for
me to depart, I went to my car and looked back and thought how miraculous it
was for a friend to take her grieving dog to find a dog for a buddy, and even
better that her dog found the right one by choosing Lucy. In the back of my
mind, I wished I had done that at one time or another but it never entered my
mind—ever. Also I couldn’t help but think that Lucy knew a good owner when she
saw Ann, and a best buddy when she saw Molly.
To me, this was the
sweetest dog story ever, and I will make more frequent trips not only to see
Ann, but to see the two dogs that maybe chose each other or it not, Molly had
good taste plain and simple. On my way home I did nothing but smile all the way
about what I’d heard and what I’d seen for love knows no boundaries—all it
takes is a trip and finding it.
Sherry Hill
Copyright © 2018
Sherry Hill
All Rights Reserved
*Pic of dog paw prints from Microsoft Word